take your answer off the air...

Talker's MagazineThe quirky talk radio trade mag. Check the Talk Radio Research Project- it's not very scientific, but places on the top 15 talkers list (scroll down to Talk Radio Audiences By Size)) are as hotly contested as Emmys (and mean just about as much).

The AdvocateNo, not THAT Advocate... it's the Northwest Progressive Institute's Official Blog.

Media MattersDocumentation of right-wing media in video, audio and text.

Orcinushome of David Neiwert, freelance investigative journalist and author who writes extensively about far-right hate groups

Hominid Views"People, politics, science, and whatnot"
Darryl is a statistician who fights imperialism with empiricism, gives good links and wry commentary.

Jesus' General An 11 on the Manly Scale of Absolute Gender, a 12 on the Heavenly Scale of the 10 Commandments and a 6 on the earthly scale of the Immaculately Groomed.

Irrational Public Radio "informs, challenges, soothes and/or berates, and does so with a pleasing vocal cadence and unmatched enunciation. When you listen to IPR, integrity washes over you like lava, with the pleasing familiarity of a medium-roast coffee and a sensible muffin."

The Moderate VoiceThe voice of reason in the age of Obama, and the politics of the far-middle.

News Hounds Dogged dogging of Fox News by a team who seems to watch every minute of the cable channel so you don't have to.

HistoryLinkFun to read and free encyclopedia of Washington State history. Founded by the late Walt Crowley, it's an indispensable tool and entertainment source for history wonks and surfers alike.

right-wing blogs we like

The Reagan WingHearin lies the real heart of Washington State Republicans. Doug Parris runs this red-meat social conservative group site which bars no holds when it comes to saying who they are and who they're not; what they believe and what they don't; who their friends are and where the rest of the Republicans can go. Well-written, and flaming.

March 31, 2012

[ed. note: While Rachelle is doing a great job on politically themed posts, she doesn't have a specific background in radio. So, to supplement the crack (addicted) BlatherWatch News Team, we've invited "Radiohead" to post on the business of radio, in Seattle and nationally. Radiohead has been on the air in Seattle for over a decade, but he or she is not saying which station he or she is now on. For totally understandable reasons.

If you're also in the radio biz, Radiohead wants your scoops and gossip! As always, anonymity is completely guaranteed. E-mail us at blatherwatch-mail@yahoo.com.]

The headlines have, you know, Moved On. Trayvon Martin is the cause du jour, and Sandra Fluke is so early March. But the online liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org is now on the case!

This week, Seattle area members of MoveOn.org received an e-mail, ostensibly from MoveOn.org member Reilly Anderson, specifically targeting Bonneville Broadcasting and Rush Limbaugh's 9a-12p weekdaily broadcast on KTTH-770. The letter urged recipients to sign a MoveOn petition demanding that KTTH pull Limbaugh's show:

...this time Limbaugh has gone too far, and it has sparked a nationwide backlash. At least 140 major advertisers have pulled their ads from the Limbaugh show, and some stations have canceled the show altogether.

Rush is still on the air in Seattle—but if enough local folks speak out together, that could change. We can't let up now. So we are calling on KTTH 770 in Seattle to take Limbaugh off the air for good.

As of Thursday evening, 5,016 people had signed the MoveOn petition. The chances that KTTH - a station which owes its very existence to the snatching away of Limbaugh's show from then-dominant conservative talker KVI - will dump Rush because of the ire of a few thousand people, likely mostly liberals who don't listen to the station in the first place, are less than zero. What's hurt Limbaugh's show, nationally and in local markets, is attempts to target advertisers - not appeals to stations for whom pissing off Libtards is all in a day's work.

However, the chances that MoveOn.org is circulating versions of this letter in every market where Limbaugh broadcasting, signed in each by a willing local MoveOn acolyte, are quite high. ("Seattle" and "KTTH 770" were the only words in either the petition or the e-mail that were specific to this market. Data merge, baby.)

And the chances are 100% that MoveOn.org now has more information on 5,016 (and counting) people from the Seattle area that it can use in future fundraising efforts. Multiply that by cost-free e-mails to MoveOn.org members in the coverage areas of each of Limbaugh's 600 or so stations, and you'd have to conclude that MoveOn.org's opportunistic concern won't much impact Limbaugh's show, and certainly won't help Fluke or any of the other people Limbaugh will surely slime in the future.

March 28, 2012

Talk radio and the Intertubes are still in a frenzy over the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. The right wing news heads have worked very hard to explain all the ways the 17 year old could have avoided being shot, including not wearing a hoodie sweatshirt, and "talking respectfully" to George Zimmerman. They have spent an equal amount of time describing the horrific accounts of Zimmerman's injuries from the scuffle and how he narrowly escaped being killed by Trayvon.

From KOMO News we can see ABC News video from a surveillance camera in the police station in Sanford Florida. Do you see evidence of a broken nose? Blood? Looking like one has rolled on the grass with an attacker or had his head slammed several times on the sidewalk?

The cop who "frisked" Zimmerman AFTER they got out of the car checked his jacket pockets (assuming they already had the gun and were not looking for that), then checked his pants pockets, found something, and took it off Zimmerman and put it in his own pocket, jabbing several times to get it down into his pocket. Has anyone mentioned the cop taking something out of Zimmerman's pocket? Did that object ever made it into evidence?

Image(Joe Oliver, BFF of George) Why has Joe Oliver quit his job to "testify" for his "friend" George, when, in an interview with Lawrence O'Donnell (The Last Word M-Th 7p-8p MSNBC), he was so easily shown to be an acquaintance at work? He said he considered himself more of an "older uncle" figure. Who is paying him so he can quit his job?

The American people have heard all the 911 tapes and, tonight, have seen the police surveillance video. Why did Zimmerman's father just release a statement that "George said Trayvon told him 'You are going to die tonight' " ? Does he think viewers will now ignore what they heard on the tapes? Does the fact that the elder Zimmerman used to be a judge have any bearing on why the police were told to drop the charges against George, and that request was made by the Chief of Police and State Attorney? We look forward to the Grand Jury hearing next month so our questions might be answered.

March 26, 2012

Starting today, The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments over the constitutionality of the Affordable Health Care Act. Rush and Friends naturally are pulling more dog whistles out of their asses over their fear of contrived mandates.

Rush gives his own version of history from last month, but it could also be Orly Taitz' version, or Sarah Palin's..or

Former Reagan Solicitor General, now turned community activist or so we're led to believe since he left the reservation, argues that legal experts agree that the Constitution gives Congress the power to adopt the mandate, and this power does not extend to absurd hypotheticals.
FOX actually let this guy speak but since they consider an expert, someone who speaks without moving their lips, they might have been caught off guard

Similar arguments were heard in 1965 over Medicare in which today's Tea Partiers claimed they wanted "gumint outta my health care" but don't cut my Medicare which must come from a parallel government.

Sam Stein reports from the Huffington Post:

"The Republican-leaning American Action Forum and the centrist-Democratic group Blue Dog Research Forum released a poll of former clerks of current justices, as well as attorneys who have argued before the court. In it, they asked for predictions about how the court will rule on the Affordable Care Act."

"Only 35 percent of respondents felt that the individual mandate penalizing those who decline to buy health insurance would be ruled unconstitutional. More than a quarter of respondents (27 percent) expected that the case would be thrown out until the mandate actually comes into effect in 2014, with the justices citing the Anti-Injunction Act as a way to argue that there is no standing for a suit."

"Only 66 people participated in the survey -- 43 former clerks and 23 other attorneys...But the percentages still reflect what has been the conventional wisdom among those in the legal community heading into this week's oral arguments. As it stands now, the bet is that the court will ultimately rule the Affordable Care Act constitutional...."

March 22, 2012

Talk radio has spent a lot of time the last few days debating the shooting of Trayvon Martin. Was George Zimmerman justified? Was it an act of racism or self defense? Are gun laws too lax? Too strong? Whatever the side of the issue callers fell under, one thing was consistant--everyone agreed that this was a tragic event.

Well, almost everyone. Over on the TeeVee, Fox news reported the story and invited people to comment on the network's blog. The result was a whole lot of ugly. We can't print most of it here because it is just TOO ugly, but here are a few examples:

-- "What a shame—a tragedy, really— because the dead lil’ gangsta could’ve used “‘A-FIRM-TIV AK-SHUN” to go to kollige an play footballz and make lotsa cash munny!”

-- "Zimmerman was attacked by the man and defended himself with a gun. Zimmerman’s wounds were verified by police."

-- " Why should anyone care about this kid? Because he is of color? People don’t value kids period. They are property. BTW, I am a conservative that cares a great deal about kids. We follow hundreds of cases each year, many white babies and children, none of them get attention. But he does??"

-- " How does anyone know what this 17 yr old said, Most likely he threw the race card out ” you stop me because I*M B L ACK” and then became threatning. The media alway plants the seed of doubt when when a B l ac k is sh ot by a caucasian".

-- " THIS IS PURE RACIST!! When do you ever see the DOJ investigate the death of a white child??"

-- "This is pure B.S I want to see the kids police record even if something is expounged also why was he removed from facebook it says account terminated.Why because his parents are trying to cover his tracks just like if you hit a bus they see Dollar signs. People have dragged data about Zimmerman out where is the kids past.Don’t say he was a good boy prove it. Ask yourself what is more likely to happen any 17 year old kid when you ask a question. A smartass reply I have never and I mean never seen a teenager run unless he did something wrong.I guess no crinimal has ever cased a place when they went to a store. It takes me aback the way all these facts are quoted by people who read one story on a issue."

-- " They should have a hunting season in Florida for these drug crazed gang members."

Posters on the CNN website were not above the fray, either:

"Come on people, lets be sensible here. Why do african americans get labeled the way they do? Well because their own people give them the horrible name that is been placed on them. I live in suburb outside of Chicago that is mostly White and Hispanic. We get a TON of break-ins in garages and houses. Guess who police catch doing 80-90% of these break-ins? Black. I dont even want to mention the recent mob actions that have been going on in the yuppie neighborhoods in Chicago where black teenagers/men are going into these white neighborhoods and beating people to within a inch of their lives."

Local talk radio has been all over this as well, and listeners have been weighing in on the station websites. From MyNorthwest.com:

--" just because you are not of the same race as the other person involved does not make you a racist. Shooting someone of a different race when they are breaking into your home does not make you racist. Getting into an argument with someone of a different race does not make you racist. "

--" I love how Zimmerman says it was self defense when he was clearly chasing after the kid. Is it so hard to believe that this 17 yr old kid was walking home and then is scared for his life because some guy with a gun is chasing him, for reasons he doesn't know? You clearly hear the kid screaming for help while Zimmerman pumps a lethal shot in him. Where is the self defense? If there was blood on Zimmerman, it would be very possible that the kid tried fighting him off. Hell, he was being chased by some crazy guy with a gun. I would try to fight off somebody chasing me with a gun. Zimmerman needs to be arrested and charged. This is sending a horrible message to the public."

From KOMO Radio website: -- " Why was the kid in a gated residential community? Did he live there? Let the whole story come out and then let the people responsible to review the case decide what to do. We shouldn't charge or not charge based upon public opinion. Somewhere the rule of law has to count, thus the meticulous investigation and someone down the line there may be a murder charge cased upon that investigation, not based on online polls. "

If YOU were to call in to Beck, Hartmann, Hannity, Carlson, Ross, Burbank, Monson or Schultz, what would you say?

March 20, 2012

Listening to talk radio so you don't have to, should also include not eating what they do.

On a recent edition of the Dori Monson show, 97.3 KIRO FM, Dori says "who cares about 'pink slime' burgers?" "If the meat treated with ammonia is good enough to serve up in federally subsidized lunches, then it's good enough to serve to my Shorecrest Scots as well, when we win the championship".

No districts in the state that we know of serve pink slime or it's counterpart, Shit on a Shingle in school lunches.

While extolling the virtues of shopping for beef remnants at his neighborhood Albertson's for the past 25 years. Dori was shocked, shocked that "quality" stores like Target and Wal-Mart were also among those selling "lean, finely textured beef"

BBQ time at the Monson house, Corelle, bottle of left-over wine and George Forman.

Dori, who went on to claim he makes "about the best hamburgers in the world" ended by saying, "I don't see how I can change, ignorance has been bliss, I see no adverse health effects, my body is addicted to the ammonia"

Monson van spotted outside of an upscale Wal-Mart

while loading up on beef by-products

We don't know if pink slime was transported to France in 2000 when Dori took his family there and insisted on bringing food on-board the flight.

Dori pleaded for advice on whether to quit buying meat that's just as good as 'hot dogs', or stand in line at Whole Foods or Communist Costco, so drop him a d-mail

March 18, 2012

After Rush Limbaugh stepped in it last week, and a couple of local hosts referred to Whitney Houston as a ''crack ho'' after her death, Clear Channel KFI in Los Angeles decided something should be done. So--they bumped nationally known progressive talker Thom Hartmann from KTLK. (Tom is still heard locally on KPTK M-F 12p-3p).

Why boot a progressive voice who out-of-towners might have sought out when in the LA area?

Los Angeles, one of the most progressive cities in America, has this ONE progressive radio station, and a couple of conservative stations. Radio analysts point out that even though Limbaugh has much higher ratings, it is no accident that his stations have much more powerful signals and when competing stations fade out in surrounding regions, Rush can still be heard.

Clear Channel apparently doesn't care about the listeners who started with KTLK when it was Air America, and who stayed with the nationally known, very progressive hosts ever since. Or perhaps they are actively trying to kill the format so they could then say it failed, and keep Limbaugh on KFI in spite of near universal outrage. Other nationally known progressives have been removed from KTLK and replaced with people like Clark Howard. The only progressive radio host left is Randi Rhodes in the middle of the day with unknowns on either side of her. When we checked the lineup, they were running old "Best of Thom Hartmann" in the middle of the night.

March 17, 2012

As media consolidations go, the transistion from Citadel to Cumulus has been anything but partly cloudy.

One of the largest examples was the mass firing this past December at west coast blowtorch, KGO. Some of the biggest on-air talent was let go including Gene Burns, Ray Talliafero and John Rothmann.

Inserted in it's place was supposedly what the Bay Area wanted, another mostly news station to go head to head with all-news-all- the time KCBS. CBS has a track record of converting 50,000 watt major market stations am stations such as KNX, WCBS and others. Problem is, CBS radio did this years ago when it was inovative and had the resources to build a market leader as a format. As ratings go, KGO was once #1, now in 7th or lower until the spring books come out.

Ray Taliafero, the man who used to walk and talk after midnight.

While it's true that KGO faltered as far back as 2010 when it lost the top spot to rival KCBS, the talk as compared to "news and information" as KGO bills itself has replaced it's local weekday overnight hosts with syndication, as one of Cumulus' own programs, "Red Eye Radio" replaced the John Rothmann/ Taliafero era of live and local radio.

Red Eye, a repackaged name for the old "Midnight Truckers Radio Network" which consists of 2 hosts, Gary McNamara and Eric Harley, which would be better aptly named The Red State Radio Angst network.

School bus driver who also kinda drives a truck and is prime demo for Red Eye radio

Who else has Cumulus rained on?

While the Seattle market is not their territory since a local indie band has claim to that name, other market areas have seen similar mass firings.

In Knoxville TN, a four decade long run for WIVK' PD Mike Hammond ended this week from one of the highest rated country stations in the market. Hammond was replaced by a Cumulus insider with a background in syndication. Hammond's son, Jack Ryan was also let go at the same time. Ryan told WBIR TV, "It's the sign of the times I guess... we had strong ratings- it wasn't that. I think it was cutting jobs."

Is it possible for a large media giant to have mostly local hosts and still do News/Talk?

KMOX, a CBS owned station in St Louis has been a market leader whose programming is live and local with one major syndication,The Rush Limbaugh Show . KMOX held the distinction of holding the record for consecutive number one Arbitron ratings books in the United States. The station was consistently the number one radio station with listeners 12 and older since 1972.

March 15, 2012

At least it is around here. Snow, hail, monsoons, wind--it's enough to send the most cheerful among us to the bottle of Xanax.

Not much on the radio waves: Ron and Don (KIRO FM M-F 3p-6p) think the father of the 3 year old who accidentally shot himself with his father's gun is lying about where he was when the shooting took place. Don is sure the father was actually in the mini-mart with the mother, instead of being a few feet away, pumping gas. The R&D show has pretty much been wall-to-wall coverage of the trio of tragedies to befall Puget Sound-area children in the last month.

Dori Monson (KIRO FM 97.3 M-F 12p-3p) had his usual classy fare today by talking about a woman who drinks her own urine. Whatever.

Obviously, this weather is beginning to take its toll. What have you been listening to?

March 12, 2012

Premiere Radio Networks, distributor of Rush Limbaugh and other right-wing talk radio shows, sent a very interesting memo to its affiliates on Friday.

The emailed memo lists 98 major corporations that have requested their ads appear only on “programs free of content that you know are deemed to be offensive or controversial (for example, Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh, Tom Leykis, Michael Savage, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity).”

Some of these advertisers are just laying low to let things blow over, but for now, this has to be worth millions of dollars being lost every day. If they do stay off his show, Limbaugh can't help be hurt by that.

Nevada’s infamous Moonlite BunnyRanch brothel in Carson City allegedly has a plan for Rush Limbaugh to take advantage of his now-ubiquitous comments about Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke. Ranch owner Dennis Hof told Reno’s KRNV-TV that he is willing to sponsor $1 million in advertising on the talker’s show to “let him redeem himself by being nice to legal prostitutes...Now is his chance to fix things. If he comes out now and supports the BunnyRanch and real prostitutes, legal prostitution, it might make him look good.”On the website (you'll have to do your own Google search for that one) - which promotes itself as a destination for “Sexy Girls, Great Drinks and Fine Cigars Since 1955” - Hof writes, “Let’s show Rush what real legal prostitutes are, if he’s so enamored by using the term. Now that dozens and dozens of sponsors have left the show, we are ready to advertise. It’s a perfect fit for someone who so flippantly uses the word(s) ‘slut’ and ‘prostitute.’ If Rush turns us down, then instead of talking about real prostitutes, he would rather call innocent college women prostitutes. The nerve of him!” The BunnyRanch ad (which can be found all over the internet), parodies typical hotel ads, with a folksy voiceover announcing its amenities: “Whether you are staying for a weekend full of threesomes, or just 30 minutes for a little five-knuckle shuffle, you can be assured that at the Moonlite BunnyRanch, we’ll leave the red light on for you.”

Where, oh where is Jessica? For the past few weeks, our investigative minions have been poking around the studios of KIRO radio bribing people with bags of Casava chips, boxes of Grissinis and a gross of Sparrer's Sausage, but nobody is talking about Ms. Gottesman. (image: Jessica Gottesman)

All we know is her last day was on a Tuesday (who quits on a Tuesday?) almost exactly a year from when she was hired, and it is all hush hush. Did she decide to "spend more time with her family? Did Dori (a girl's name) Monson (KIRO M-F 12p-3p) throw his bantam weight around and get her fired because she patted the top of his head one too many times? If anyone has the skinny and would like to share, we invite you to email us at the link above. RR

March 10, 2012

From our friends at The Huffington Post: "The overwhelming exodus of advertisers from Rush Limbaugh's show has big-name companies rethinking their relationship with talk radio.

According to a memo published by the industry website Radio-Info.com at least 98 advertisers -- including big names like Ford, GM and McDonald's -- have indicated they want to avoid "environments likely to stir negative sentiments."

Here's an excerpt of the memo, as published on Radio-Info.com:

"To all Traffic Managers: The information below applies to your Premiere Radio Networks commercial inventory. More than 350 different advertisers sponsor the programs and services provided to your station on a barter basis. Like advertisers that purchase commercials on your radio station from your sales staff, our sponsors communicate specific rotations, daypart preferences and advertising environments they prefer…

They’ve specifically asked that you schedule their commercials in dayparts or programs free of content that you know are deemed to be offensive or controversial (for example, Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh, Tom Leykis, Michael Savage, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity). Those are defined as environments likely to stir negative sentiment from a very small percentage of the listening public."

Sponsors began abandoning Limbaugh's show en masse after he made offensive comments about Sandra Fluke, calling the law student a "slut" for her testimony in support of President Barack Obama's birth control mandate, and suggesting she should make sex tapes if she wants birth control covered by insurance.

On Thursday, Limbaugh's program was practically devoid of paid advertisements, according to reports.. Of the 86 spots that aired, 77 were "free public service announcements donated by the Ad Council." Seven ads were from companies "in the process of pulling their spots."

Limbaugh's website features in-house advertising for tshirts and baseball caps.

As advertisers were contacted by angry listeners, many said there "were no ads on Limbaugh's show." Upon further investigation, some found that the advertising packages they had purchased did, in fact, include a few spots there, and they made arrangements to have them removed. This was not necessarily because they agreed or disagreed with Rush's statements, but because they want to avoid controversy.

Several talk show hosts have epressed concern that an all out boycott would hurt them as well. Stephanie Miller (6a-9a KPTK) commented, "If a listener is unhappy, by all means they should contact a sponsor and complain about their choice to advertise on a particular show. But to actually boycott the product hurts all of us, even if we had nothing to do with the controversy." RR

KVI am 570 KHz Visit the burnt-out husk of one of the seminal right-wing talkers in all the land. Here's where once trilled the reactionary tones of Rush Limbaugh, John Carlson, Kirby Wilbur, Mike Siegel, Peter Weissbach, Floyd Brown, Dinky Donkey, and Bryan Suits.
Now it's Top 40 hits from the '60's & '70's aimed at that diminishing crowd who still remembers them and can still hear.

KTTH am 770 KHzRight wing home of local, and a whole bunch of syndicated righties such as Glennn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Medved, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Lars Larsony, and for an hour a day: live & local David Boze.